Preparedness for when

Karmacat

Mar and happydays, hope all is well with you.

mardatha

Snow forecast for here tomorrow, wind blowing like hell and lights flickered a couple of times already. But always warm and cosy ty Karmacat.

GreyQueen

Stay snug, lovely Scottish peeps. All is blandola and still this far sarf although there was a slight nip in the air this morning, which has otherwise been ridiculously and unseasonably warm.

I've re-batteried my head-torch, which was run down my a lot of hours over several days rootling in the parental loft 10 days ago.

[Deleted User]

Wind and rain is terrible here.

No flickering lights so far , but I'm topping up the charge on the Jumper Pack, and the Hudl, just in case.

Ryanna2599

Heavy rain this afternoon/evening and lots forecast between Saturday afternoon and Monday. An afternoon at an outdoor sports tournament may not be a fun experience for Sunday afternoon.

Talking of preps AnimalTribe I have a large box of burn plasters. If the power goes and we end up lighting fires with little light I want to be prepared. I'm also a bit prone to burning myself on the oven in the kitchen so have had occasion to use one or two since purchase.

I came across this article online that made for interesting reading (I quit my job to set up a post-apocalyptic commune)...you may have previously read it as it was published in Jan 2015...but I thought I'd share anyway.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/31/i-quit-my-job-to-set-up-commune

moneyistooshorttomention

At a "what's happening right now" level and that part of "normal civilisation" that is represented by the availability of libraries is taking quite a hit. I'd noticed the shelves getting steadily emptier in my local library (ie obviously less money being given to purchasing new books). That is a place that will never lose having a library unless everywhere in Britain has lost their libraries - so worrying watching that.

....and then I moved...

Now I'm here - and library loss is a real and present possibility and currently being discussed as to which libraries stay open:eek:. It could be that darn nearly every library there is in the area closes!

One way or another and over one timespan or another its obviously not going to be possible to find new library books to borrow - and bang goes that part of "civilisation as we know it".

How do "readers" manage When There Are No Books (to paraphrase that book of "When There Are No Doctors")?

Are you somewhere Where There Are No Books? If so - how do you manage to get a good supply of reading matter (of your choice) to read for free? I think that might particularly be a problem for people who are predominantly non-fiction readers (ie because most secondhand books going the rounds seem to be fiction).

I've found Project Gutenberg online. Recently, I came across a similar website that others may not have heard of - ie www.fadedpage.com and that's another resource.

Those are the only sources of free reading matter I've found basically to date and, by definition, their collection of books to read don't include modern books and they are having to be read online.

I have a kindle - but my experience of free e-books to date is that its possible to find the occasional gem. However, by and large, those e-books offered for a free read are very short and/or not quite up to scratch.

So - a shout-out for readers who are (or think they might become) rather marooned for sources of free reading matter. What do you do to plug that gap? Do you know of any other useful websites (preferably for modern-day books!)? What other ways do you get your "reads"?

One thought I have is that, when I'm in adjacent counties anyway, I could nip into any of their libraries that are still open and borrow books and then hand them back into the library system via any mobile library van that had to be sent to us instead. Is that going to be feasibly possible? - ie my library ticket just covers this county (but presumably another county would issue me one of their tickets or accept mine?). Then - would a mobile library van here take back that other county's books and send them back through the system to their home library for me?

greenbee

MTSM - one of the libraries here that we're 'closed' are still open and thriving as 'community libraries'. You might want to look into it and see whether there are enough people willing to get involved to make it work.

Inter-county loans, and loans from copyright libraries (there used to be, and probably still is, one in Boston) are possible in the main library system, and probably through mobile libraries too. That's how I sourced most of my books when at Uni - my local library wouldn't have had them and Uni libraries were always over-subscribed.

nuatha

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Now I'm here - and library loss is a real and present possibility and currently being discussed as to which libraries stay open:eek:. It could be that darn nearly every library there is in the area closes!

That pattern is being repeated right across the country - the most high profile version being Birmingham's Central Library which had a multi million pound redevelopment then faced closure due to increasing financial constraints, still open but on reduced hours IIRC.
Given this government's ruthless drive to only fund the wealthy and do so from everyone else all amentities are under threat, everywhere,.

I've found Project Gutenberg online. Recently, I came across a similar website that others may not have heard of - ie www.fadedpage.com and that's another resource.

Those are the only sources of free reading matter I've found basically to date and, by definition, their collection of books to read don't include modern books and they are having to be read online.

As you have a Kindle, then you have the option of using the Kindle lending library (free with Amazon Prime) but just about any other source of free ebooks will be piracy and at the expense of the creators of the books you wish to read.
It may be possible to create a community library, where book purchases are pooled and shared (and future purchases could be funded by a small subscription)

The only real solution to the demise of libraries is to remove the source of the problem, which seems to be a prep too far for most people to consider.

Doveling

MTSTM - you could always volunteer on the library bus.:)

The library service bus which visited the village I lived in was always looking for people for the volunteer pool.

This brought a wry smile to my face

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34790223

[Deleted User]

If there are no books and you can still get hold of paper and pencil, write one of your own for the future generations. Not a novel but record practical things that allow safe everyday living, things that work, the 'how tos' that keep survival skills alive for those future generations who will need them and if no one else can do it, teach another human being or as many as want to learn now to read! It's not the loss of libraries that will be devastating but the loss of knowledge that results from it.